Civil Rights Office To Review Motive To Halt Busing Students In Norfolk

August 18, 2001|By The Virginian-Pilot

NORFOLK — Lawyers in the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights have requested information surrounding the Norfolk School Board's decision to end middle school busing this fall.

The request comes in response to a complaint filed by the Coalition for Equal Justice, a year- old, 150-member civil rights group based in Norfolk. The group has been involved in issues including congressional redistricting and police brutality, a spokesman said.

According to an Aug. 2 letter from the OCR to Superintendent John O. Simpson, the group charges that the reassignment plan "was racially motivated" and will "contribute to the resegregation" of schools. The group also alleges that " 'Black' middle schools receive less and/or inferior resources than 'White' middle schools."

Nineteen residents and the Norfolk chapter of the NAACP have contacted the OCR supporting the complaint, the letter says.

George D. Raiss, spokesman for Norfolk Public Schools, said the OCR is requesting enrollment data, rationale for the plan, details on the option that eighth-graders have to remain at their old school this year and other information.

"We are in the process of gathering that information," Raiss said. "We will respond in a timely fashion, as we always do."

A letter from the OCR to the Coalition for Equal Justice says it's unclear whether an investigation is needed. "After we have received and reviewed this information, we will determine what additional steps, if any, may be necessary," the letter says.

Roy L. Perry-Bey, public affairs chief for the coalition, said his group fears the plan will leave black middle school students with inferior resources. The School Board is working on a long- term plan to bring equity to middle schools -- from extra staff at campuses with the most black and low-income students to a new middle school on the city's predominantly black southside. But Perry-Bey said inequities exist now.